Chinese New Year, Boston 2/25/07

Chinese New Year, Chinatown, Boston, February 25, 2007. The Chinese year: 4704, the year of the pig. This was my first Chinese New Year celebration. My friend Teresa Yuan told me, "It's very loud," and she was right - next time I will wear ear plugs, as I noticed the seasoned veterans were wearing. Basically, the entire neighborhood surrounding Beech Street was filled with groups, or bands, or tribes, if you will - there were the yellows, the reds, the blacks - perhaps they were families, or were members of a martial arts club - and each group, accompanied by a troupe playing very loud drums and cymbals, marched through the neighborhood, stopping at the doorsteps of shops along the way where the dragon and the lion danced, bowed, and beckoned to the shopkeeper, the movements synchronised to the pulsing beat of the music. The shopkeeper offered cabbage, or lettuce - the color green being symbolic of life, and the color of money; and oranges, orange also being a color of life - as well as a red envelope with money, these gifts offered in thanksgiving for the dragon and the lion, it is believed, having brought good luck; the Buddha figure wards off evil spirits. (At least, this is the way it was all explained to me by a seemingly in-the-know bystander.) Then, there is the loudest explosion - hundreds of small firecrackers percussing off of the streets and buildings - you have ever heard, sending people running and covering their ears (Teresa says the firecrackers are also to ward off evil spirits). In a puff of smoke, the merry band makes its way to the next shop. This ritual was repeated many times by many groups, all afternoon.